Three Ways to Bring Internet to Emerging Markets That Don't Involve Balloons
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Google wants to bring the Internet to underdeveloped countries by floating balloons equipped with wireless access in the skies above them. The flashy effort is drawing gawkers, but the Google Loon project could fall short of its goal of spreading knowledge, and bringing cultural and economic improvements to the third world.
Bill Gates says Google is full of hot air. The uber philanthropist -- and still the largest individual shareholder of Google's aging rival, Microsoft -- criticized Loon in the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, saying it's "not going to uplift the poor."